I recently had the opportunity to visit our Baltics nation allies, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia with DSCA Director Jim Hursch. These nations have been allies with the United States since 1922 and have several notable Security Cooperation programs with us.
I spent my first day in Lithuania where I met with acting Command Senior Enlisted Leader (CSEL), Darius Marozas for the Lithuanian Armed Forces, an old classmate of mine from the Army Sergeants Major Academy. There, I got an overview of their current and emerging efforts to further develop interoperable Non-Commissioned Officers (NCO) for greater synergy inside the NATO Alliance.
I then travelled to Latvia on my second day where I met with Latvian CSEL Edgars Joksts-Bogdanovs. SGM Joksts-Bogdanovs expressed Latvia’s desire to have the United States as their partner of choice for both capabilities and NCO development. Together, we attended a meeting with Mr. Hursch and the Latvian Chief of Defence Lieutenant General Leonīds Kalniņš, further strengthening the senior leader and enlisted leader relationship that is growing stronger throughout our partners and Allies’ militaries.
On my final day, I visited Estonia, where I met with the Estonia Defense Forces CSEL Enn Adoson to discuss NATO NCO interoperability, and training and exercise opportunities that could bolster the U.S.- Estonia relationship. I also met with the Baltic Defense College (BDC) CSEL Alvydas Tamosiunas and discussed their critical role in educating U.S. and Partner Nation CSELs on leadership that creates more interoperability on the battlefield and long-lasting relationships. In addition, we discussed the critical role of space-centric curriculum integrated into the BDC CSEL Course to ensure our future leaders understand and can lead in this complex mission area.
#DSCA #securitycooperation #NATO #Lithuania #Latvia #Estonia #ncos